Experts can still learn from Novices. 

The chapter describes an expert as someone beyond thinking effectively about problems in their fields.  An expert according to the chapter is someone who has acquired extensive about a topic, but notices, knows how to organize, represent and interpret the information.  While I agree with the following six principles of experts’ knowledge: 

1.       Experts notice features and meaning patters of information that are overlooked by novices

a.       The experts know and are able to use the “chunk” approach

                                                               i.      “Chunk” various elements of a configuration that are related by an underlying function or strategy.

b.      Develop organized conceptual structures, or schemas, that guide how problems are represented and understood

2.       Experts have an “organization” system of their great deal of content knowledge

a.       Knowledge is organized around core concepts or “big ideas”

3.       Experts’ knowledge is not simply a set of isolated facts but rather the expert knows the right place of application.  In other words it is “conditionalized” on a set of circumstances.

a.       It is about knowing when, where and why to use the knowledge the possess

b.      Experts have not only acquired knowledge, but also are good at retrieving the knowledge that is relevant to a particular task.

4.       Experts can access their knowledge with ease and flexibility. 

a.       Fluent retrieval does not mean that experts always perform a task faster.

b.      The use of instructional procedures that speed pattern recognition are promising in this regard

5.       Experts know their disciplines thoroughly

a.      Expertise in a particular domain does not guarantee that one is good at helping others learn it. 

b.      Experts have been characterized as being “merely skilled” versus “highly competent.”

6.       Experts vary on approaches to new situations

a.       Some ways of organizing knowledge are better at helping people remain flexible and adaptive to new situations than others.

 The concept of “tenure” comes to mind.  It is no secret that with more years of experience teachers become better educators—at least that the common desirable outcome.   In my teaching experience I have come across many veteran teachers whose ideas of multiple choice exams cannot be replaced by “performance based” or even the idea that many of them view the notion of a “comprehensive exam” at the end of the year as something impossible their students cannot achieve on.  Schools or education systems in general put too much emphasis on tenure.  I mean some think that reaching the “tenure” status that you are a better teacher because you had to work “hard” in order to get there.  As a result some teachers who get tenure lose touch with their subjects and are no longer good at helping others learn it.  Truth is that experts can be “merely skilled” or “highly competent.” It is my opinion that getting rid of “tenure” at any academic level (including universities) would clearly prevent the fact that some “experts hurt teaching because they forget what is easy and what is difficult for students.”